Can opener



Oct. 16, 1928. 1,687,582

A. NOBLE 4 CAN OPENER Filed Aug. 2, 1925 IN V EN TOR.

WWW

Patented on. is, 1928.

marine STATES;

PATENT oFFIcE.

'ABRAHAM QBLE, or sen nrneo, CALIFORNIA.

CAN OPENER.

Application filed August 2,1923. Serial No. 655,271.

thus to avoid the possibility of injuring the 7 hand; fifth, to cut the top of the can entirely off, clean, so as to leave no inwardly extending flange or burr, and thus to provide for the free exit of the contents sixth, toopen round, square, oblong or other shaped cans; seventh, to make it unnecessary to first punch a hole in the can in order to start the opener, or to dr ve or hammer a cutter into the can; eighth, durability; ninth, simplicity; tenth, comparative inexpensiveness of manufacture.

These and other objects I attain by means of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which I Fig. 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2, a sectional view, on horizontal plane, online 11 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail top plan view of the cutter.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In the preferable embodiment of my invention, shown in the drawing, a channel shaped frame, 1, is provided, which is provided with a suitable handle, 2, forholding the opener. The flanges, 3 and 4;, of the channel shaped frame are formed with hearing holes at 5, 6, 7 and 8, to receive vertical shafts, 9 and 10, which are journalled therein. Shaft 9 is er:- tended upward beyond framel and provided at its upper end with a handle, 11, for rotating or turning the shaft, and with a driving gear, 12, which meshes with a driven gear, 13, mounted on the upper end of shaft 10. It is obvious that handle 11 may be mounted on shaft 10 instead of shaft 9. v

A toothed feed and resistance disk or wheel, 14, is mounted on the lower end of shaft 9, so that it is rotated by means of handle 11. ld heel 1 A is placed on the top of a can, 15, and engages the inner surface of rim-l6 of the can, so that the teeth dig into the surface of the rim and the wheel feeds the opener positively around the can. It is obvious that '19, secured in frame 1. concave at the forward-endto form a ournal it may be rolled in either direction, so that the opener maybe operated either righthanded or left-halide i i A cutter wheel, 17, is mounted on the lower end of shaft 10, so as to be rotated thereby,

and is formed with a chisel shaped edge which is notched, so that the edge consists of a series of spaced cold chisels. The upper surface of wheel 17 is in a plane lower than the under surface of wheel 14E by the thickness ofthe tin of the can top, and the edge of wheel 14; overlaps the'edge of wheel 17, so that cutter 17' pierces the wall of the can just under the top. It will be understood that the chisel toothed cutter 17 cooperates with wheel 14 in feeding positively around the can without effort to push or pull on the partof the opcrater, and he does not have to hold or turn the can or touch it with his hand. I When the cycle is completed the can top is entirely severed from thewall andmay be lifted oif freely by the opener.

The bearing hole 8 is elongated, so that shaft 10 and cutter 1? is permitted to swing backward fromwheel 14, as shown by dotted lines. By this means the opener may be freely applied over rim 16 of can 15.

A closing lever, 18', is pivoted on a stud,

bearing for. shaft 10, and serves to push the shaft forward at its lower end, and cutter 17 through thevertical wall of can 15 just under the lid and hold the cutter in cutting relation while the opener is being. operated by means of handle 11. Lever 18 is shown in open relation by dotted lines.

As cutters 1'? severe the tin as shown and described, the adjacent portionof the can wall, at 20, is sprung inward and springs back into normal position after the cutter has passed, so that an inward-extending flange or burr is not left whereby the free exit of the contents of the can might be interfered with,

so that solid contents, as sliced pineapple,

corned beef and the lilre,-may be emptied bodlly, and even semihquid and liquid contents may be easily poured out without diffi- Lever 18 is formed 1.

tin in orcer to start the conventional can openers. This difficulty is entirely avoided by my improvement, the lever 18 being easily closed and the first incision of cutter 17 being made Without shock or uncertainty of hitting the mark. The well rounded handle 11 also is comparatively long, to provide ample leverage for the frailest person to operate the cutter even through the vertical seam of the can.

The usual violentthumping, hammering and wrenching incident to opening cans is avoided and peace and quiet is promoted.

Having thus described my invention in its present preferable embodiment, so that air one skilled in the art pertaining thereto may understand its censtruction, and any one may understand its us I do not wish to be confined to the particular construction shown ant described, but contemplate varying the construction within the purview of the appended claims.

Iclaim 1. In. can opener, a frame having manual holding means for one of the hands, manual torsional rotating means mounted on said fran e for rotating cutting means with the other hand While the first named hand is mai'iipulating said holding means, punctur ing gear and self feeding toothed cutti' means rotated and driven by said. rotati means, and closing means for actuating and retaining said cutting means in closed relae tion pivotally mounted von said frame in close proxin iity to said holding means.

2. In can opener, a frame having manual holding means, a shaft journalled in said frame, resisting and auxiliary feeding means mounted on one end of said shaft, manual rotating means provided on the opposite end of said shaft, a second shaft journalled in said frame and driven through gearing by said manual rotating means, a cutter mounted on said second shaft, and a lever for actuating said cutter through the wall of the can so fulcrumed on said frame that its power memher is in close proximity to said manual holding means.

3; In a can opener, a frame having manual holding means, resisting and auxiliary feeding means rotatively mounted on said frame, a shaft journalled in said frame, circular cutting means mounted on said shaft, driving 

